Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone and iPad have become the first consumer devices cleared to handle classified information in NATO-restricted environments.
This allows iPhones and iPads to handle classified NATO information without any additional software or settings. It seems to speak to Apple’s ever-present mission to ensure a secure device for all of its users.
The iPhone and iPad had previously been cleared by the German government to handle classified material. That has now been expanded across all NATO nations as long as they are running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 or later operating software.
“Secure digital transformation is only successful if information security is considered from the beginning in the development of mobile products,” said Claudia Plattner, president of Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security. “Expanding on BSI’s rigorous audit of iOS and iPadOS platform and device security for use in classified German information environments, we are pleased to confirm the compliance under NATO nations’ assurance requirements.”
“Prior to iPhone, secure devices were only available to sophisticated government and enterprise organizations after a massive investment in bespoke security solutions,” said Ivan Krstić, Apple’s vice president of Security Engineering and Architecture. “Instead, Apple has built the most secure devices in the world for all its users, and those same protections are now uniquely certified under assurance requirements for NATO nations—unlike any other device in the industry.”